Parting Ways

Late last night, I tried parting my hair again. It's been a while since it's been this long and part-able.

I started by trying to re-establish my old part, down the middle but slightly off to the side. Since it's been about five years since I had it last, the hair wasn't totally cooperating but it was good enough for Alinna to have a look-see. With arms open wide and a big smile, I looked for Alinna's approval. Instead, she frowned... big-time.

Take-two. To be even more obnoxious, I tried the swooping part from the right side of my head. I even got it to wave across my entire forehead. It was pretty awesome. Again, I turned around and looked for Alinna's approval, but instead her hands started attacking my head.

I think it's safe to say that I will forever be parting ways with the hair part.

Taking Out the Tree

It's now January 10th and I have finally taken out the Christmas tree. It was starting to look a little crispy and when I finally tried to push it through the doorway, it was more than just a little crispy. There is a massive trail of pine needles on the stairs leading up to our apartment. The stairs are now ninja-proof. No ninjas will be able to creep into our apartment unannounced.Totally unrelated, I was browsing around and found the blogs of some of the people in my fellowship. After reading them, I've come to realize that I make some completely innane posts. I used to write deep Jesus-y like stuff on this blog (or at least I thought so), but those days are now gone. Instead I write about Christmas trees and ninjas.

Back and Refreshed

I'm back from my now yearly trip to North Carolina (it's now yearly because it's been two years in a row). As Drew Hyun said once, I get to spend a week down in North Carolina with a bunch of people whose cars I'm not even worthy to wash. Get to learn from a bunch of holy people, enjoy their fellowship, and at the beginning of every school year, I get a scholarship check from them. I think it's a pretty sweet deal.

Pounding

As per the Satake annual tradition, we ended the year by making mochi the old-fashioned way. Fire, steam, rice, mallets, and a marble bowl that is deceptively heavy. There is a lot of physical exertion required. Lots of pounding and grinding. Alinna found her niche in the process by discovering her hidden talent of making attractive, perfectly round pieces... everyone was impressed.

In other news, last Sunday both my mom and my sister made comments about my weight paired with a gentle patting on my belly. I dunno. What do you think?

I think it's safe to say that Alinna's been taking care of me.

Home Free

Free at last!

So what does a brain-dead seminarian do after going through 11-weeks straight of non-stop studying? Sit, eat leftover Mexican, catch up on the San Francisco Giants' sorry winter transactions, and watch BBC World News on PBS. I've thought about reading for pleasure, but then it reminded me too much of reading for school.

I just made the switch over to Blogger beta. There are a few changes that I really like. Maybe I'll explore it a bit more later when I feel more motivated to do something.

Oh Crap, It's Finals

Yesterday, I came down with the stomach flu. It's been tearing through Baylight like crazy. Surprisingly, I feel a lot better now (so maybe it wasn't the stomach flu). Anyway, it's finals week, not exactly the best time to get sick. And it's never good to have problems with the bowels... especially when taking tests.

I think my physiology of aging final exam at Cal speaks to that. On the blackboard it said "No bathroom breaks." So I had the decision to either submit my final exam early with about half of the questions answered or crap in my pants. I decided that taking an F on the final and hoping for the best was the best option. I ended up with a C- in the class. For any Cal biology students out there, you know how ridiculous it is to get a C- in physiology of aging (the class is touted as an easy A by Cal biology standards), but all things considered, I think I won.

Anyway, I went to take my Hebrew test. The last one of the quarter, when I had the stomach flu. I had major flashbacks to my senior year at Cal. The bathroom at the seminary is one long corridor down from the classrooms. Thankfully, my innards were cooperative even when my brain wasn't. I don't think I did too hot on the test. Oh well. I'll definitely do better than a C- in Hebrew.

And then there was four

Big sigh after finishing the 15 page behemoth. It goes out in the mail tomorrow. I've got Hebrew, Communication, Church History, and Grief Counseling left with a week to go. Now, I have a normal courseload. Seriously, next quarter's going to be a cakewalk after going through this craziness.

Five Classes!

A week and some change and my workload has reduced to five classes. Eyes on the prize baby. Eyes on the prize.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I can see it!

My printer is now printing my 12 page Church History paper about the development of the theology of sex in the early church fathers. Summary: Augustine wasn't so into sex but Polycarp didn't seem to mind all too much.

I mailed in my systematic theology paper like a week ago too... so now I have six classes (I started with seven classes) worth of work I still need to do/turn in until December 11 (I still have a final exam for church history).

Hair Cut

Yesterday, when Alinna came back home and saw my haircut, she frowned and said, "You look like a shorn sheep."

Apparently, my hair was so long for such a long period of time that I look naked and sad now. To give a better picture of how drastic it was, there was about an inch and a half of hair on the ground. It probably didn't help that I was shivering a little because it was so cold yesterday afternoon.

Many thanks to my family and Steve and Jeff for coming all the way out to Mountain View to cheer me on and support me on Sunday.